This is the first of what I expect will be a series of short posts about MMOs which have exceeded their ‘productive’ lifespans. These games may have gone dark entirely, or survive only as emulators, or else they hobble on, more-or-less unplayed, into their twilight years.
There is something deeply unsettling about an uninhabited Virtual World.
It is what makes Youtube streamer Vinesauce’s visit to ActiveWorlds, a once-flourishing virtual community, so haunting. In his video, Vinesauce sees remnants of an vibrant, creative world, now abandoned. Then, the ghostly and mysterious Hitomi Fujiko appears. In an extended roleplay session, Vinesauce’s interaction with Hitomi moves the video from melancholy into the realm of horror.